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cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11618175
Zoo defends ‘panda’ exhibit after criticism for using dogs dyed black and white
On May 1, the zoo drew large crowds of excited animal lovers as it prepared to unveil a new attraction.
When the zoo revealed the animals, visitors were met with the sight of little four-legged creatures, with white faces and black spots around their eyes and ears - not unlike the colorings of a panda.
The only thing is, these creatures weren’t pandas. In fact, they were Chow Chows - a dog you might recognize from real life or social media, since they’re very much the opposite of a wild animal.
The spitz-type dogs originally come from northern China, and were presented at the zoo because the owners said they didn’t have any actual pandas to show visitors.
The owners were accused of trimming and dying the dogs to look like pandas, causing some backlash as locals accused the zoo of animal cruelty.
However, a spokesperson for the zoo hit back at the criticism as they pointed out that ‘people also dye their hair’.
Dogs can be caged because we enslaved their ancestors and restricted their reproductive choices for milennia? If we bred cows that wanted to be eaten, would that make their meat ethical? If you believe that, I’ve got a restaurant at the end of the universe to sell you.
I didnt say it that its not cruel to cage dogs. I said its less cruel than caging a panda because they are more used to it.
I dont know if its fair to call it that, but dogs are probably still pretty “sad” about sitting inside doing nothing all day, especially when they are alone. If you have ever lived with a farm dog that was free to go out and wherever it wants 24/7 by itself, then indoor “incarcerated” dogs will seem like an empty shell to you.
Upvote for the hitchhikers guide reference!!!
I don’t know how accurate enslaving wolves is, though. It very well could have been a mutually beneficial relationship at the beginning.
It’s a mutually beneficial relationship now, assuming responsible ownership. And excluding brachycephalic breeds, other predictable and preventable genetic illnesses or predispositions to injury, and other stuff that could reasonably be lumped into “responsible ownership” but deserve special recognition.
But yeah, dogs are happy as shit when they get to do the thing’s we’ve bred them to do.
If a wolf didn’t want to be domesticated, particularly with the technology humans had at the time, there was no way it would have happened. Dog domestication is generally believed from genetic estimates to have begun around 20,000 years ago. Not only is this around 15,000 years before humans started working metal, it was likely long before they had the technology to build cages with any kind of reliability. The point is, when the domestication of dogs started, humans most likely had the ability to KILL a wolf, but to subdue one alive with any reliability and force it to its will for domestication? At the very least it’s questionable, particularly given how resource intensive it would’ve been to do that to a powerful, threatening animal that is resisting while you’re a group of subsistence hunter/gatherers.